French Wives

Our next segment of Hinterland giddiness comes in the form of a catch up with the always lovely (and never wanky) Stuart Dougan of French Wives. Do enjoy…

Firstly, update us with some news. What have the band been up to of late?

Well on Wednesday we played possibly the worst set of our lives as Scott’s guitar broke and we had to go off stage for fifteen uncomfortable minutes while we tried to fix it. Other than that we played an excellent fundraiser for Mary’s Meals with Findo Gask and Paper Planes and have been putting the finishing touches to our next single which will be out in May.

And how are things now that your guitarist Scott is back from the US?

Considerably better since his return. It was good that we were still playing gigs but it wasn’t the same without him here. As it happens he’s that busy finishing his degree he’s still rarely seen but at least our phone bills are cheaper now that we’re not having to call America.

How would you describe French Wives’ sound?

Without trying to sound like a complete wank, we try and write intelligent pop music (wank!). It’s very melodic and we aim to make things as interesting as possible.

Are there any key influences to the band as a whole or as individuals?

We all listen to different stuff so it’s a bit of a mixed bag really. There’s certain bands that we all like and having different musical backgrounds is helpful when it comes to putting songs together.

You’ll be playing Hinterland at the weekend, are there any other bands you are hoping to catch?

Definitely Mystery Jets. I’ve only seen them once but they’re one of my favourite bands so I’m keen to see them again. I think they start ten minutes after we finish so all our gear will be getting cleared up in record time.

If you could choose to play a support slot for any artist who would be top of your list?

I think we’d love to support someone like Belle and Sebastian. I think it would be a pretty good fit. If you happen to know any of them could you please let them know we’re interested? I know they’re recording again so that would be great. Thanks.

And who would you pick to support you?

Belle and Sebastian again. That way the venue would definitely sell out.

Halloween/Dogfight came out at the start of the year and had really good response, how are you feeling about the Me vs Me single?

We’re very excited about it. We’re really happy with how it’s turned out and it’s probably more suitable as a single than Halloween was. Everyone will just have finished their exams when it’s released (on May 17th!) so it’ll be good to know that it’s finally summer and will hopefully give us a bit of momentum going into some festivals. We’re also doing the launch at The Art School which I’m looking forward to as we’ve never played there before.

What can we expect in the coming year from you?

We’re going to be playing a few festivals hopefully and we’re hoping to get a lot of new songs finished as we haven’t had a lot of time together because of everyone’s university commitments. It’s hard enough fitting in practising and gigging just now so it’ll be good once everyone is done and we can work like a proper band.

Finally, are there plans for a longer release anytime soon?

Probably in the second half of the year but it’ll most likely be an E.P. There’s not plans for an album or anything just yet. I think we want to tour a bit more, maybe build our profile a little and then look to that for 2011… maybe.